Another day at the office
Logan was in a bad mood.
That was nothing new, but at the moment, he was in a REALLY bad mood.
He stomped throughout the interior of his ship, cursing and swearing, for the entire two-hour trip.
I am going to kill her.
That was his constant.
First, I’m going to shoot her; THEN I’m going to kill her.
Logan finally plopped back down into the pilot seat, still huffing in anger.
Shoot her, cut her heart out, and THEN kill her.
The Den came up on the viewing screen, as thoughts of the mayhem he was going to inflict still jumped up and down in his mind.
The Den was the unofficial name of the Guild House of Hunters. A large station, hidden deep in an asteroid field, and disguised as such. Large ships had no way of entry, only smaller cruisers and personal shuttles. The guild conducted all of their business here; it acted as refueling station, temporary prison, supply and munitions vendor, communication center, and embassy for every Hunter in the galaxy.
“Code identification, please.”
The voice on the com brought Logan out of a lovely dream he was having about what a plasma saw could do to the human body.
“XX493581. Wolverine.”
Logan waited as patiently as he possibly could. He lit a cigar and puffed harshly on it, waiting for the little red light on the control board to turn green, letting him know the scan was finished.
He stared at the little red light as if it had just given him the finger.
Right before he was about to say to hell with it, and blast the little red bastard to hell…
“You may proceed, Hunter Wolverine.”
Logan punched the controls and put the ship on a landing course.
As soon as they knew Logan was docking, Anna and Wade walked briskly to the hangar.
Even under his face mask, Anna could see Wade was nervous. Who was she trying to fool, she was nervous, too. Logan would never hurt them, well, at least not her, anyway; sometimes Wade riled Logan up a bit too much, but being around him when he was like this was never a fun experience.
“Wanna make some bets?” Wade asked, in his always unnerving, upbeat tone, “I could make some damn profitable wagers that we see at least a severed arm at exactly five minutes after he steps off the ship.”
Anna rolled her eyes at him. “Wade, please don’t start!”
“Cone on, we’ve got to make some money while we can,” he urged in a whiny tone. “I mean, we’re going to be losing our biggest hitter and,” he made quotation marks with his fingers, “the ‘Rogue Cell’ will be out of business.”
He shook his head. “I still say we should have named our division ‘Deadpool Pest Removal, We kill em so you don’t have to;’ see, that has a good, market-friendly tone to it.”
“Will you shut up?”
“What I’m saying is though, if he gets put away by the guild for killing another hunter, and even if by some miracle, we do get to keep our licenses, that means I’m going to have to do double time on my hunts, and do you know how badly that cuts into my Golden Girls reruns?’ Wade paused a moment, “Guess I could always sell my body to science as a part-time gig.”
“They don’t buy from the dollar bin, sugah,” Anna said, quirking a smile.
Wade gasped, “You wound me, you heartless wench, my ego will be forever torn asunder, I don’t think… ooooo, gummi snacks!” He had stopped at an old, rundown vending machine they walked past.
“Wade!”
Looking longingly at the snacks, Wade sighed and followed close in tow.
Hangar:
Logan had exited the ship, checked the charge on his blaster and was about to go and commit murder with a smile, when Anna and Wade showed up in the hangar.
“Hey, the Wolverine’s in the house, yeah! “Wade rushed over to him, holding his hand high in the air. “Thirty thousand plats, man! Yeah, give me some skin, dog!”
Logan seared holes into Wade’s face. “Not. In. The. Mood. Wilson.”
Wade knew that tone. “Do you want a hug or something, ‘cause you know I’m here for you?” He opened his arms and grinned brightly under his mask.
Logan growled menacingly at him, and Wade, for once, took the hint.
“Okay. I got it, you’re angry right now, so I’m going to stand over here all the while projecting my love to you and hopefully you can enhance your calm…”
Logan raised his blaster at Wade, the vein on the side of his head throbbing.
Anna stepped in front of him and the gun. “Come on Logan, there is no need to be so upset, so she took a job you wanted; it’s not like the universe ain’t full of scum bags.”
Logan lowered the pistol when he realized he couldn’t get a good shot at Wilson. “That ain’t the point Anna, this is the third time she has done this, and it’s cost us almost half a million in plats! I don’t care if she THINKS she is as good as I am, but she is NOT gonna keep stealing our marks.”
“According to her records, she has filled contracts on almost as many perps as you have, so by Guild SOP, if Hunters are of equal renown and standing, then bids are open to any who can take them, and it just so happens the only Hunter in the whole galaxy who’s even remotely close to your Standing is..”
“Don’t say it,” Logan warned, holding a finger up, “I don’t want to hear it anymore, I’m gonna go kill her and be done with it.”
“Logan, when you kill her, you’ll be brought up on charges before the Guild, have ALL of our licenses revoked, you’ll be thrown in prison, and Wade and I will be technically fucked.”
“I’ll make it look like an accident,” he said, trying for one last ditch attempt to take his frustrations out his way.
Anna arched a brow at him. “How, cutting her head off and saying she slipped in the Fresher?”
“It could happen,” Wade piped up, but he went back to being quiet when he got the look from Anna.
“Let me take the legal way with this,” she continued. “I’ll bring it before the Guild Counsel, and do what I can. Who knows, maybe they’ll force her to give us some form of compensation, you know they say the Pen is mightier than the Sword.”
“Yeah, if you stab somebody in the eye with it,” Logan mumbled, but nodded his head in agreement. “After I’m done with Summers, though, I AM giving that bitch a piece of my mind.”
“So long as that piece does not have anything to do with blasters claws, explosives, knives, clubs or poisons, go right ahead.”
“You forgot toothbrushes,” Wade chimed in again.
Anna and Logan fixed him with exasperated stares.
He looked from each of their faces in quick succession. “Hey, it’s possible, I put one through a guy’s head once.”
The look on Logan and Anna’s face remained frozen.
Wade pointed at Anna and shook his finger. “Hey, I’m just trying to help you out.”
“Get started on the ship, then, Wade,” Anna sighed. Rubbing at her temple, she looked at Logan. “And you better let Summers know you’re here, I’m surprised he hasn’t already burst in here complaining about schedules.”
The door in the rear hangar opened, and an armed escort of Federal soldiers entered, followed by a tall man wearing the uniform of Federal Captain.
“Spoke to soon, Darlin’,” Logan said, putting on his best smile as the soldiers stopped in front of him.
“Late as usual, Howlett,” Captain Scott Summers informed him. “I see you don’t maintain any of the punctuality of a soldier.”
“Never had any,” Logan said, lighting the remains of his cigar. “’Sides, One-Eye, I have been here a good twenty minutes, so I guess you could say you’re the one who’s late.”
The visor Scott wore hid the anger brimming in his eyes. “The Federation has hired you to apprehend a fugitive and deliver him…”
“He’s right inside my ship, first holding cage down on the left.” Logan interrupted, “So my part is done, and me and my associates would like our compensation.”
Scott fixed him with a hard stare. He hated dealing with Bounty Hunters, and he hated the fact the Federation let them operate so freely.
Reluctantly, he motioned one of his men forward with a small case. “Thirty thousand, when I see that prisoner alive.”
“Well, if ya keep standin’ here, shootin’ the shit with me, Slim, he’s probably gonna die of old age.” Logan let his smile just shine as brightly as he could. He loved giving any Federation official hell, and Scott Summers had become a favorite of his.
Scott sighed and gave the order for his men to fetch the prisoner.
“Hey, be sure to not to take off that suppression chip on his neck, until ya get somebody to deactivate it, otherwise y’all are gonna be a foot shorter,” Logan said to the guards as they passed him.
“You know, I could reprimand you for those, civilians are not supposed to be in possession of suppressor chips,” Scott said, looking a bit smug.
“Ah, hell, Cap, why write me up for that? I mean, if ya spend an hour or so looking through my ship, I’m positive ya could find something better to waste time and paper on.”
Scott shook his head and turned his attention to the individual who his men were dragging out.
“You didn’t cuff the prisoner?” he asked.
Logan shrugged. “Ya knock ‘em cold and ya don’t have to.”
Allerdyce was woozy but still glared daggers at Logan. “You’re a dead man, Hunter; I know people, you’re a fucking dead man!”
Logan rolled his eyes and gestured with his hand, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m gonna wake up with a horse head in my bed, sleep with the fishes, wish I was never born, and beg for them to kill me, heard it all before, kid. Enjoy lockdown; watch them gorillas.”
Logan smiled and Allerdyce struggled to get to him as the guards dragged him away.
Logan extended his hand to Summers.
Scott looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
Logan looked down at his hand and then back at Summers. “Oh, I sure as hell don’t want a handshake from ya, Summers, just that there case with my pay.”
Scott grinned a bit, and took the case from the soldier by him and handed it off to Logan. “Don’t spend it all in one place.”
“If that place has beer, yer damn right I will.” Logan handed the money to Wade, who cracked the seal, looked inside, and then nodded.
“Always a pleasure for you, Summers” Logan nodded and walked away, Anna and Wade close behind.
“Smooth as ever, sugah,” Anna said. “You know, a little more tact with the Feds would make things run a lot smoother for us.”
“Don’t deny me one of my few pleasures, Darlin’,” Logan replied; as angry as he was when he arrived, the chance to rib “Captain” Summers, did manage to cheer him up a bit. “Now if y’all will excuse me, I have something to get off of my chest.”
“Remember, Logan, NO roughhousing,” Anna reminded him as he walked to the lift. “Just say your piece and be done with it.”
Logan looked hurt as he stepped into the lift. “Darlin, this is me, I can be subtle.”
“As a thermo frag,” Wade whispered to himself.
“Shut up, Wilson.” Damned enhanced hearing…
Logan waved at them. “Back in an hour,” and the lift door closed.
Wade looked at Anna. “Bet?”
“Shut up, Wade.”
The Wreck Room:
Logan stepped out of the lift and smelled the air.
Oh, yeah; she’s here.
Normally Logan would have gone straight to the bar for a glass of rotgut, then a few games of pool; today, though he had to forgo his usual routine.
The blaster at his side was still tempting, even after the warning Anna gave him. Logan knew it was ridiculous, but he swore he could almost hear it talking to him.
Come on, use me, ya know ya want to…
Shut up.
Just a little squeeze, and then ya’ll feel worlds better and have a glass of whiskey and all will be right in the universe once again.
Aint as simple as that.
Sure it is. Ya point me, ya pull the trigger, and boom, happy days are here again.
Yeah, and I get to celebrate in the slammer.
A moment of hesitation. Almost worth it though, huh?
Logan ran a hand down his face. He was talking to his gun. Jesus, the bitch had him so riled up still, he was talking to his gun.
Ignoring the nagging voice of his blaster, Logan continued on through the wreck room.
The crowds were sparse, a few other hunters sat at the bar drinking, others were playing pool and poker at tables. He let his eyes roam across the length of the room, until they settled on a table in the far corner. At it sat the object of his frustrations.
Long, black leather-clad legs, with stiletto heels, were resting comfortably on the table top; she was sitting back in a chair talking to a older man with a thin mustache seated on her left. Her long hair let down for the time being, it was a stark contrast to her brown skin and the black body armor she wore.
Logan narrowed his eyes, pulled his trench coat tightly around his own grey-colored armor and stomped over to her table.
She was laughing about something as he approached, and he sneered at it, his hand going down to his blaster in a moment of weakness. Logan steeled his resolve and let his hand relax.
No shooting. No shooting. No shooting.
He mumbled it as he stopped in front of her table, with a scowl on his face.
She looked up at him and smiled. “Look Forge, who has decided to joins us, the ‘Best Hunter in the Guild,’ the great…….Badger? No, wait, that’s not it…” she crushed her snow-white brows together, thinking.
Logan had a sarcastic smile hanging on his face.
“Mongoose, right?” she said finally, smiling broadly, letting her teeth shine.
“Oh, that’s good,” Logan said, still with the obviously fake smile. “Mongoose, yeah; rodents, I get it.”
Storm kicked a chair out for him. “Seat? Drink?”
Logan shook his head, “No thanks; just came here to say something.”
“Oh,” Storm said, leaning over the table a bit, “I am all ears when you speak.”
Logan had to advert his eyes for a moment, when he found himself absently looking down at the cleavage that showed through her armor. “You’re a bitch.”
She laughed, “Oh, I love when you cut through the foreplay and get right to it, Wolvie.”
Logan slammed his hands down on the table. “You stole my mark.”
Storm leaned forward, their noses touching at the very tip. “I didn’t steal a damned thing from you, I followed S.O.P to the letter, I was completely within my right to do what I did.”
She leaned back and took a drink. “I mean, do you hear other Hunters, whining about when their bids get challenged and their marks taken?”
Logan growled, “Other Hunters don’t have my reputation, there’s a little thing called professional courtesy.”
She laughed again. ‘Professional courtesy? Honey, in case you hadn’t noticed, ours is not the typical run-of-the-mill job, it’s a cutthroat business, every one for themselves.”
“Plus,” Forge quipped, “I had full authorization from the...”
He shut up immediately when Logan pulled his blaster and stuck it right in his face.
Logan held the blaster at arm’s length but never took his eyes off of Storm. “Old man, when I give a shit about what you have to say, I’ll let you know. Until then, shut the fuck up!”
Storm didn’t even blink when he pulled the weapon. He was fast, she thought as she powered up one of her own blasters underneath the table. “You know, I do love when you get all ballistic, Wolvie, but I would suggest you lower your sidearm before I take away your only saving grace.”
Logan looked puzzled a moment, Ororo smiled a bit and motioned him to look down with her eyes.
Slowly he glanced down and saw the red dot of an aiming sight on his crotch.
Son of a bitch…
Carefully Logan lowered his arm and the blaster from Forge’s face. “You always did go for my nuts first.”
Storm smiled and stood up, keeping the blaster fixed on its target. She slowly walked over to him, she was taller than him and she loved that fact.
She stood very close, and whispered in his ear, “Business is always what I go for first, Wolverine, but you never know, if it’s worth it, I could always find the time to mix some pleasure in with it.”
They shared the same breath a moment, their lips not but a fraction apart.
She gave him a to-die-for smile, “Lets go Forge.”
Forge quickly stood up and made his way to the lift.
“See ya around, Wolvie.” She bumped her hips and backside into Logan’s groin lightly and walked away, swaying for all she was worth.
Logan took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
Come on, use me, she’s asking for it…
SHUT. UP.
Logan made his way over to the bar to try and ignore the voice again.
Only this time, it wasn’t coming from his blaster
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